A handful of basketball games are lined up Tuesday in the region as the new year commences. Wisdom is at Ashland for a boys and girls doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. and Easton is at Central Aroostook for a twinbill, with the girls tipping off at 5:30 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m.
The Hornet boys (0-7) are looking for their first victory of the season and hope to pull it off against the visiting Pioneers, who come in at 2-3. The Ashland girls, under coach Ben Lothrop, are in fifth place in Class D at 4-3 and take on a Wisdom squad that is winless at 0-5.
The Panther squads both come in with impressive resumes after suffering opening-game losses to Houlton. The CA boys are 5-1 and in fifth place in Class C North and the girls hold a 4-2 record (also in fifth place) under new coach Dillon Kingsbury. The Easton boys are 5-3 and in seventh in the Class D ranks and the girls are 1-4 and in ninth.
Southern Aroostook’s Kylie Vining, right, guards Madawaska’s Brianne Thibeault during Friday night’s game in Dyer Brook. In the background is SA coach Cliff Urquhart. SA won 71-44. (Joseph Cyr)
In other boys basketball action, the Katahdin Cougars make the trek north to take on Hodgdon at 7 p.m. The two team met previously on Dec. 20, with Katahdin picking up a 60-43 victory at Stacyville. The Cougars are 5-2 on the year and are ranked second in Class D North, while Hodgdon is 3-4 and seventh in Class C North.
A Nordic ski meet involving all the Aroostook County squads had been scheduled in Ashland Tuesday, but has been cancelled due to the extremely cold temperatures.
Game summaries of an action-packed Friday and Saturday on the court and on the ice are as follows:
Girls basketball
Hodgdon 46, Easton 20 — At Hodgdon Friday, Janelle Goff poured in a game-high 22 points to lead Hodgdon to its fourth win in six games. Kathryn Rediker scored nine points for the winners, Sydney Howell had seven to go with nine assists and six rebounds and Kora Lambert chipped in with six points and 15 rebounds.
Delaney Leach and Lydia Ferris netted seven points each for Easton (1-4).
Houlton 65, Mattanawcook 26 — The Shires rolled to their fifth straight win on the season as they easily dispatched Mattanawcook Academy (3-4). Individual results were not reported.
Madawaska 44, Southern Aroostook 71 — At Dyer Brook Friday, the Warriors used a strong second half to pull away from Madawaska. Makaelyn Porter led the Warriors with 24 points.
Madawaska’s Jenna Dugal led all players with 28 points. The Owls dropped to 2-3 with the loss.
Driving to the basket is Southern Aroostook’s Kylie Vining as she is swarmed by Madawaska defenders during Friday night’s game in Dyer Brook. (Joseph Cyr)
Central Aroostook 52, Ashland 25 — At Mars Hill Saturday, the Panthers placed three players in double figures and won their fourth straight game. A 19-4 second-quarter scoring run put the game away.
Breanna Bradbury led Central Aroostook (4-2) with a game-high 15 points, while Katie Levesque and Ashlee Harris chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Ashland (4-3) was paced by Megan Cote with six points.
Hermon 54, Presque Isle 47 — At Hermon, Cait Tracy connected for 18 points and Lauren Plissey posted 17 as the Hawks beat the Wildcats Saturday. Maddie Pullen chipped in with 10 points for the Hawks.
Emily Wheaton connected for a game-best 25 points, hitting five 3-pointers, for Presque Isle (3-2). Madison Jandreau added 12 points.
Fort Fairfield 49, Washburn 36 — The host Tigers went on a 28-10 run spanning parts of the second and third periods to secure Saturday’s victory.
Fort Fairfield placed eight players in the scoring column, led by Cammi King-Demerchant with 15 points and Kourtney West with 11.
Kassie Farley paced Washburn with a game-high 17 points. Alexis Carney added nine.
Caribou 71, Washington Academy 33 — At Caribou Saturday, the Vikings bolted to a 25-8 first-quarter lead en route to their fourth consecutive victory.
Searra Herbert paced Caribou with a game-high 20 points, while Gabrielle Marquis netted 12 and Kimmy Susi posted 10.
Southern Aroostook’s Kacy Daggett, right, brings the ball up the floor as Madawaska’s Jenna Dugal gives chase during Friday night’s game in Dyer Brook. SA won 71-44. (Joseph Cyr)
Katie Leighton’s nine points led Washington Academy of East Machias.
Katahdin 56, Van Buren 25 — Natalie Rickards and Haley Landry both posted statistical “double doubles” as the Cougars rolled at Van Buren Saturday.
Rickards scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Landry 12 points and 10 rebounds for the 2-4 winners. Lily Cullen had a strong all around game with 14 points, seven steals and four assists.
Leah Gendreau and Tiffany Morrow scored nine and eight points, respectively, for the 2-4 Crusaders.
Boys basketball
Madawaska 61, Southern Aroostook 42 — At Dyer Brook Friday, the visiting Owls outlasted Southern Aroostook to pick up the 19-point victory. Individual results were not reported.
Hermon 60, Presque Isle 56 (OT) — In a game that PI coach Terry Cummings said took on a “tournament-like atmosphere” at Hermon High School Saturday, the Wildcats trailed by seven points in the first quarter and came back to go in front, and then fell behind by eight late in the third quarter but forced overtime, only to fall to the still-undefeated Hawks.
Presque Isle owned the only field goal in the extra session, but Hermon hit six of its eight free throw attempts to pull out the win.
Griffin Guerrette tallied 20 of his game-high 26 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats. Jonah Hudson had 16 points and six rebounds, Jason Dumais eight points, five rebounds and three steals and Trace Cyr six rebounds for PI, now 4-2 and still atop the Class B North standings.
Isaac Varney scored 22 points, Jordan Bishop 14 and Keenan Marseille 13 for the Hawks.
“Even though we lost, it was another tremendous confidence booster for us as we were coming off the big comeback win against MDI only two days earlier and were playing our third game in four days,” Cummings said.
Southern Aroostoook’s Hunter Burpee, left, dribbles the ball up the court while guarded by a Madawaska defender during Friday night’s game. (Joseph Cyr)
Central Aroostook 90, Ashland 29 — At Mars Hill, Caleb Harris tossed in 26 points to power Central Aroostook to victory Saturday. The Panthers (5-1) netted 16 3-point field goals in the game as they won their fifth straight game.
Dylan Haley had seven points to lead the winless Hornets.
Washington Academy 56, Caribou 48 — Washington Academy outscored the Vikings 16-4 in the third quarter to retake the lead and held on for the win Saturday at Caribou High School.
Tihomir Babic led the 5-2 Raiders of East Machias with 18 points and Jim Lin added 15.
For 3-5 Caribou, Parker Deprey netted 17 points and Alex Bouchard scored 15. They tossed in three 3-point field goals each.
Houlton 88, Stearns 53 — At Millinocket Friday, the Shires rolled to the big win over Stearns. Houlton trailed 15-14 at the end of the first quarter, but roared to a 44-23 lead at the half to break open the game.
Jaron Gentle led the Shires with 21 points, while Cameron Cleary added 17 points and 14 rebounds. Hunter Sennett and Keagan Gentle each had 11 for Houlton.
Results for Stearns were not reported.
Southern Aroostook’s Jayden Burpee, center, is swarmed by Madawaska defenders during Friday night’s game in Dyer Brook.
(Joseph Cyr)
Shead 50, GHCA 76 — Playing at Hodgdon Friday, the Eagles beat visiting Shead. Individual results were not reported.
Katahdin 60, Van Buren 51 — At Van Buren Friday, the Cougars notched the nine-point victory over Van Buren. Hunter Craig led Katahdin with 21 points, while Brody Guiggey added 19 and Rig Otero chipped in 10.
Luc Perreault led Van Buren with a game-high 32 points.
Katahdin led 17-6, 34-25 and 46-41 at the quarter breaks.
Hockey
Waterville-Winslow 5, Presque Isle 4 — After holding on to a 4-2 lead, the Wildcats surrendered three unanswered goals in the late going and lost to the Riverhawks in overtime at the Forum in Presque Isle Friday.
The Wildcats had beaten Waterville-Winslow in their first meeting, held in Waterville Dec. 16, by a score of 6-2.
In Friday’s game, Cody Pellerin supplied the game-winner for Waterville-Winslow. Teammate Tom Tibbetts had a big game with two goals and two assists. Bryce Gunzinger picked up 20 of 24 saves in goal for the Riverhawks (3-2).
Connor DeMerchant, Jake Stevens, Torey Levesque and Tom Patenaude all scored goals for the Wildcats, which had their three-game winning streak snapped. Goalkeeper Andre Daigle saved 40 of 45 shots.
“We had chances to win it in regulation and overtime, but the puck didn’t bounce our way,” said Presque Isle coach Carl Flynn. “It’s tough to bounce back when you give up a two-goal lead.”
Presque Isle 3, Messalonskee 1 — On Saturday, Thomas Patenaude, Connor Demerchant and Colin Daigle scored a goal apiece as the Wildcats rebounded from Friday’s loss and improved to 4-2.
Colby Carlisle provided two assists for Presque Isle, which received 10 saves from the goalkeeper trio of Bryce Bonville, Brandon Poitras and Andre Daigle.
Myles Hammond scored unassisted for Messalonskee of Oakland. Eli Michaud amassed 48 saves.
Black Hawks 9, Waterville-Winslow 5 — At the Millar Civic Center Saturday, Black Hawk freshman Logan Swallow and sophomore Gavin Vining each scored their first varsity goal as the hosts rolled to the big win over Waterville-Winslow.
Brandon Dunn added three goals and an assist, while Jason Collett, Noah Reynolds, AJ Henderson and Alex Wilde each had one goal. Vining added three assists, while Reynolds had two assists and Collett and Zach Fitzpatrick also had one assist.
Freshman Elijah Matheson was in goal for the Black Hawks for his first varsity action.
